athens basics.

today we visited bizarro wuxtry, a quintessential athens establishment. nevermind the dust bunnies, bizarro is full of great comics, zines and buttons. devlin, the manager, also makes 1" buttons (under the name 'inch high'). if you need buttons made in athens, he's probably your man. he has done some exceptional things to push the boundaries of buttonry. with his permission, i will be lifting on of these techniques soon for a new button adventure. but until then, i leave you with an image of the amazing tin ceiling at the grit...

sitting on the factory floor.

yesterday was taken easy. we hardly went out. i made lots of buttons. and in the evening we all sat around working on various craft projects, chatting and watching movies. we also participated in rancho cocoa's weekend wind-down (an activity which results in many lists, so i'm extra down with it). oh, that's nilla up there performing her nonchalant trick of just sitting still like a person.





me, i'm working on replacing tara bursey's cheap dates button sets that were all gobbled up by various stores on our travels. your girls are out there in the big bad world now, tara. and they're multiplying.

missy is working on a big custom order for the local water utility making all these terry cloth drops. well, i call them miss missy's li'l drips - you may have to petition her to change their name. i think missy might also want to consider claiming that they cure dropsy.



today, after much talk of missy's comic strip in the local weekly, i finally went online to look it up. holy man, do people get riled up over some drawings of cute wittew tofus. it's amazing. it seems like the paper gets most of its letters about her strip. the rancho cocoas told us that a few years ago the ire of one athenian even spurred a poster campaign. people are weird. and amazing. i'm impressed with missy for taking this weekly abuse on her $20-per-strip salary.

oh i should also announce that i couldn't help but begin a rubber band ball for the road. if my baby at home hasn't totally atrophied in the summer heat, maybe they can be pals upon my return to toronto.

a little georgian german town.

our first day in athens began as all first days here should - with brunch at the grit, an amazing vegetarian restaurant with friendly service and cures for road gut.

but this was just the first of the wonders we would witness. our gracious hosts, missy and raoul, had planned a great adventure for us - a trip to alpine helen (or helen, georgia). helen is a small town about an hour and a half's drive from athens that is designed to make tourists and vacationers think they are in germany...only with more american and confederate flags sprinkled about.

missy and raoul were looking at cookoo clocks in their mission to cutify their home, rancho cocoa. but alpine helen holds far more marvels than just germanic clocks. there is also a miniature kingdom,...









...strange and wonderful sweets,...





...hosen,...



...and an historic indian mound (with a gazebo built on it).



i'm pretty sure there is a town ordinance that requires all structures to look faux alpine. even the dutch import shop where i bought postcards...and the circle k.

i must say that all of my recent interactions with miniatures have gotten me really excited about taking pictures of them. but i was haunted by the suspicion (and now with the help of some friends knowledge) that somebody has already done this better and firster. actually, i found a few people doing miniature photo projects. and besides, i am not a photographer. i suppose it will just have to remain a hobby.

when we got home, missy was so tuckered out that she curled up on the table and reverted to her natural form:

asheville, north carolina.

today bring just a brief note to discuss the towns of asheville and neighbouring weaverville, north carolina.

corrine, who runs a vintage and handmade shop called diggin' art, originally found my work a few years back through another ashevillian, john murphy of stupid creatures. she has since had a very bad car/vespa accident and had to shut down her shop in asheville. the cosmos being what they are, though, we happened to be passing through the area right after she managed to reopen (titanium spine and all) in nearby weaverville (where she lives). if you are in the area and haven't checked out the new shop yet, you should. her vintage selection is just amazing and every nook and cranny in the new space holds surprises of vintage findings or indie made stuff.





that set of drawers up there is where my buttons were housed when i got there. go find them! that is, unless corrine has found some funky new display idea by the time you get there.

as for now, we are headed to athens, georgia, where we are being taken in my missy and raoul for some down days at rancho cocoa. more on that as time progresses. we also did some thrifting today and i got a quilt top that my friend jen is going to try to murder me for. i might do a thrift stuff round up during our time in athens...but until then i will just gently twist the knife by saying it was five dollars.

driving south.

i like the south. i feel more relaxed as i drive south in the states.

i have also been thinking a lot about the songs that go through my head as i travel. road signs trigger a slew of songs i haven't though about in years. for philadelphia, the song about his home town by atom and his package; for new york the song new york city by vancouver band of my youth, cub; washington dc by the magnetic fields, in indiana by brenda kahn; california by joni mitchell; and wichita has two songs - that one by the white stripes and true dreams of wichita by soul coughing. but the most upsetting by far is a nick cave song (maybe his version of an old country standard) that aitor introduced me to on this trip - knoxville girl. i'm never that cool with murder ballads, but mr. cave does do a good job of expressing the straight horror of the lyrics. at the very least he's not trying to pretty the song up. i find it chilling. regardless of any higher thought, though, i was a little dismayed to have this grisly song chirping through my head as we passed through tennessee today.

thankfully we arrived in asheville, north carolina, by evening and i don't know any songs about this place. they also take great care around these parts to be hospitable...



now all we have to contend with is a motel full of nascar-lovin' boomhauers who are currently running around this fair establishment drinking cruddy beer and yelling things i couldn't possibly decipher. how does all this still feel like we are coming home?

creativity and creationism in kentucky.

it is at times like these that i consider dividing blog posts into thematic sections instead of doing daily reports. i also recently discovered google analytics (thank you, marya) and thereby realized that a blog about sock monkeys had to link to by post about shannon gerard's boobs and dinks in order to post information about operation sock monkey. but maybe this is good. maybe contradictions, confrontations and coincidences are more defining of human experience than we usually acknowledge. but i digress. and i am thinking myself outside of my station in life. i know my place. let's talk crafts and weird tourism!

todays adventures around cincinnati actually involved no cincinnati at all. this city has always proven very elusive to me - i either have to drive right through it due to time constraints or avoid it narrowly in my travel itineraries. please, if you know things i should make a point to do in cincinnati, let me know. i'm not sure when i will be back but i am adequately mytified to make a point of returning.



instead of landing us in the big city, our adventures today took us to a couple of peripheral ketucky destinations. first off, we made a stop at pivot, a brand-spanking-new gallery/boutique in covington that we heard great things about. tammy (whose art that is above) is one of the sisters who started the business together. she was in the gallery recovering from craftin' outlaws where they had a table and was kind enough to chat it up with us about art and crafts and the area. pivot will be at renegade chicago and hopefully we will soon be doing some business with them soon. but for now, i am just impressed at how together they are for a three-week-old business (conceived only seven weeks ago). those girls are crazy geniuses!



after aitor consumed his first kentucky hot brown (i don't even know what it is after seeing it), we headed off to the day's main attraction - the creation museum! this establishment is a little gem nestled into the corn fields of petersberg, kentucky. although a bit beyond our current budget we had decided to take the plunge into humanity's 6000 year old history and boy were we glad we did. what a completely beguiling clusterfuck. wow.



we start our tour in an open area that houses dinos, cave christians, rock samples and various living flora and fauna. confusing, pretty, grand. there are also lots of smiling people around everywhere willing to help with anything and then smile more. i kept thinking about this work group on happiness that my friend misha hosted, in which statistics on the disproportionate happiness of religious people was brought up. i also felt a little skeeved. but the smiling people said i could take pictures, so i was happy.



the museum begins with discussion of the modern downfall of everyone (except...lutherans, i think). this was presented through various displays, reproduction canyons, murals, an alley of athiest graffiti and videos with teen performances reminiscent of the movie hell house. after watching projections of some kids rolling sloppy joints, i couldn't wait to be reborn! this is where the museum really kicks into high gear. we are taken back 6000 years (through a tunnel of twinkle lights) to the dawn of time - which is presented in a four minute video. it's pretty great, especially the final image which depicts adam and eve in silhouette against a nuclear sunset...with two intermingling brontosaurs in the not-to-distant background. we then leave the theatre and enter the garden, itself...









what a place! that garden really did look like a lot of fun. i can see why this stuff caught on. after this, the excitement slowed for me a bit, entering biblical territory that i already knew - original sin, women belonging to men...you know. but i wasn't here to find out stuff i knew. i came for stuff i didn't know. in this repect, things get pretty good around the time of the ark (a central focus of the museum).





this time period does require special added attention since it is quite a challenge to figure out how two tyrannosaurs and two brontosaurs and two othersaurs all fit into those scant 300 cubits. two words: baby dinos. duh.





these diluvian times also held many changes for the earth. trilobites both ran from the flood and happily swam around under water, pangaea split up into the continents we now know, floating forests formed (we couldn't find any explanation for this), fossil fuels were created in a thin layer under the earth and much much more - all in five months! after this, the laws of science and physics that we all know and love today also came into being and here we are - saved!

and salvation was never so much fun! all that remained was a visit to the extensive gift shop and dragon-themed book shop (oh, yes, dragons figure into all this somehow, too). it sure is a hoot to be a dino-lovin' christian.



how do i look with my new glassy gaze and kentucky derby hat? i hope i look good because i feel amaaaaaaaaazing. rooooowr!

model citizen.

i have been sitting on this news for a while now and have been busting at the seams since i saw proofs, but had to hold out on saying anything. above is a panel from a new web comic called unspent love by one of my favorite people, shannon gerard. she's been asked to do a monthly strip for top shelf (congrats, shan!) and asked me to pose for the first one right before i left toronto because she was tired of drawing her sister, son and partner. it was a crazy night - we went into the subways right after my last toronto performance with iron cobra and then sat on a bench and had farewell chats until i had to go. now, seeing it all real and online i am so proud of shannon and feel quite famous.

today i also discovered a little blogly love from my friend faythe. this crafty internet world can really be a magical place filled with love and support. it's such an adjustment from the world of performing comedy. oh, there is love there, too, but it generally comes with at least a small bit of bile and/or is coated with a cynical veneer.

with all this love heaped on me from the abyss, i suppose i should dole out some, myself.

#1 - a midwest friend, keith helt, has a new issue of his zine, flotation device, on the shelves (the internet shelf and the shelves of some independent chicago book sellers). i will be picking up a copy when i pass back through chicago in september, but you can look online and/or read up on his new blog right now to get a sense of what a cool dude keith is.

#2 - miss lauren bride has finally started a blog in an attempt to hold at least part of the immense creative output she has found herself producing since she got hit on the head by a bolt of hyper-creativity this year. lauren is also one of the progeny behind this. oh, miss bride. you are loved.

#3 - tara bursey reports that she still has a few cigar boxes to get into the hands of some worthy autobiographers for her portable library project. you should hunt her down and get involved. actually, lauren and keith should. and missy. there, i said it. i would suggest shannon, too, but i know she is freaked-out busy right now.

now to sleep. we have a big day of ridiculous tourism tomorrow in cincinnati. i joke not; this is going to be serious.

wholly craft!

i have yet to mention our gracious columbus hosts (who have been even more gracious that they expected as we are some serious lingerers when we want to be). this is because they deserve their own attentions. that's chong pictured above. he clearly can't keep up with my button making action, disproving the assertion of one craftin' outlaws patron who stood in front of my table on saturday saying to her cohort that "everyone and their brother is making buttons these days - because it's easy." i doubt she would last as long as chong. he did pretty well. and i'd be lying if i said that i hadn't passed out in the same way once or twice.

our human hosts are equally crafty. seth is a screen printer who spent his sunday doing an impressive revamp on a thrift store picture frame. i am seriously inspired by such displays of gumption. i need more day-off projects when i get home. okay, maybe i just need more days off. olivera (whom i have now know for a few years) is also the mastermind between columbus' first (and maybe only?) outlet for handmade goods, wholly craft!

aitor and i made a visit to the shop today. i am actually kicking myself for not getting a picture of the awesome mural that just happened to be there when olivera moved to this new location. i guess you are just going to have to go see for yourself. aitor and i picked up a few goodies - a book on wood finishing, a book on paint and wallpaper, some vintage fabric, a zine and some secret surprises for secret people. if you are ever in columbus, wholly craft is the place to go. olivera also makes the round to nearby craft fairs (she will be at renegade chicago, for instance), so keep and eye out. but the shop itself is the best. now to read all those books about things we should be better at doing...

oh, the shame. the shame.

outlaws of ohio.

oh no. i am running out of steam when it comes to writing about craft fairs. craftin' outlaws is a fair we did a couple of years ago on our last tour and which seems to have grown steadily since. this year, they moved to a new location which solved a lot of problems (like the always-rained-upon back yard at the old venue). oh, up there are some of our lovely neighbours from the pittsburgh travel agency. i really liked their stuff and would have bought a shirt if i wasn't feeling so poor. i try not to feel poor but this week got a little scary.

we spent most of the day cooped up behind our table so i have a paltry collection of pictures - mostly of my own stuff. the venue was an old converted church with big coloured glass windows and the light got beautiful in the late afternoon.







aitor even took a picture of me that i liked (without goofy teeth in). so, here you go sweetie; it isn't just pictures of you (revealing how little you change your clothes) anymore.



after the fair, we all had to clear out so that a wedding reception and a playboy oil wrestling could load in (for serious). a bunch of folks from the fair went out to northstar cafe. i ate a burger made of beets. the last time we were in columbus, we walked into the northstar and heard someone way "friends!" we looked way up and saw our friend rick rumoli. it made no sense and was the best surprise and i can't walk in there without remembering that senseless moment. we had a good time with mr. rumoli, too. we ate ice cream.

baltimore more more!

as expected, our travels through baltimore today were all too brief and all too wonderful. first off, we went for a stroll through hampden, a kitchy little neighbourhood with a shopping district, nice cafes, yarn shops and the like. i had a rendezvous with the lovely folks at atomic books. rachel picked out a new batch of buttons for the shop while i browsed the racks (which house a dizzying array of books, zines and crafty stuff). the atomic empire used to be split (get it?) between two shops - atomic books and atomic pop - but have now reconsolidated into the newer, larger location on falls avenue that houses everything. it's overwhelming in all the right ways.

when we strolled past their old location, we saw this:

it would seem that our screen printing friends from squidfire are spreading their tentacles into the world of retail outlets. congratulations, guys! everyone in baltimore should go check out their new shop and the revamped atomic books.

aitor also encountered his true love in a shop window.



all the curves you'd ever want and she don't talk back. on a good day, she'll also match your socks. but alas, the store was closed and seemed pricey from what we could tell. thankfully, we encountered something a little closer to our price range at the common ground cafe down the street.



who can resist fake teeth for a quarter? well, i can tell you who can't...





after our goofings and fun and soup eating, we had to cheese it over to another amazing baltimore landmark (and a must-see for any visitors if you ask us), the american visionary art museum. i sell to the glorified gift shop there, sideshow, which is owned by the same lovely man as paper boy and uncle fun in chicago. billy from uncle fun was central in our first visit to baltimore. his urgings to go to the museum didn't overplay the majesty of the place. actually, the museum is hard to even describe and pictures are only allowed outdoors, so i will leave you with this:



totally amazing from wall to wall.

ted, the owner, picked out a heap of buttons and i picked up some remaindered books (he has a way of sourcing out an amazing selection). he also got aitor to do an impromptu unflattering portrait of gina, one of the employees.



the protrait was only on a ramada note pad and the rest of the staff wanted their portraits, too, so ted suggested we plan a trip back wherein aitor could set up for a whole day doing portraits in the museum itself! isn't that amazing? we're working on dates and think this will happen in late october or early november. i'm totally excited.

but for now, we must just dream of our return and shove off into columbus for the craftin' outlaws fair tomorrow and whatever adventure lays beyond that.

stowaways.

this morning (and last night) we spent interloping in yet another family. we were sheltered by julie, steve, sage, ella & hazel (and their pack of puppies) all of whom we just met by chance when we were rained out of the art star craft bazaar at the very start of our trip. and how lovely to get to spend all this time visiting right into families. it is exceptionally fun to hang out with the kids (not that the grown up time in the evening wasn't deeply appreciated and full of laughs). after such a short visit, both ella and hazel decided that they should come with us or sabotage the car to make us stay. very flattering, indeed. and thanks for not pouring sugar in the tank, ella. we can't afford any more mechanical work.

below are two special views of the ladies.

#1 - ella's camera face that drives julie nuts and makes sage laugh:



#2 - the face hazel makes when she is trying to arch her eyebrows one at a time.



we are planning a trip back just because we left so much of our hearts with this very special family. also, julie runs the philadelphia independent craft market which we have been wanting to do. next time, we're going to get pictures of sage, too, no matter what he says.

the girls also sent us on our ways with two flower hair clips that they make and sell. i have to say that mine is doing a very good job of keeping my hair nearly in order on this muggy muggy day. i also inherited aitor's in spite of how good it looks on him.



and now we sit in a motel room just outside of baltimore, finishing off the last of the wild arugula soup that jenny made and tried so hard to love but couldn't. we love it, jenny, and feel very spoiled to have home cooking in a motel room. tomorrow holds adventures into one of our favorite cities - baltimore. we are excited. but also...tired. good night!

family time, harada style.

last night we arrived at the lovely new jersey home of our friends jenny and mark where they live with their two little ones, lukas and naomi. it's pretty fun to watch the kids grow with annual check-ins. on our first big craft tour, lukas was only two and the whole family was living in columbus, ohio. i was really excited because he learned to say my name during that visit. now he says all kinds of stuff and hides his face behind toast when we doesn't want his picture taken. he also plays a mean game of zuma.



naomi was just a bump on jenny's belly on that tour. now she is an ambulatory 16 month old who is astoundingly able to get around and figure things out. for instance, here is a picture she took of me:



not bad for just over a year old. i was actually kind of blown away by her cognitive abilities.

here is a picture of naomi with strut strut kitty, a new friend that jenny made and sent us on our travelling way with.



jenny is an amazing plush artist whom i met via the internet a few years back and since fell in love with. with her own little plushies running around the house now, she isn't doing as many craft fairs (too bad for you) but is rather focusing on doing one or two bigger art projects a year. keep an eye out for her work; it's really quite fantastic.

after the kids passed out last night, we went for some walks down to the shore of the hudson to look at new york and chatted about things like geodesic domes until we, too, passed out. now, the little kitty, the reverend and i have moved on and arrived in philadelphia for visits with another family. but that's a story for another day...

coney island adventure day.

there was only one way to bid farewell to brooklyn once again and that is with a visit to a place very dear to our hearts - coney island. we missed it on our last trip through new york and won't be back through until coney season will be almost (if not entirely) over. in recent years, there has been a lingering sense of urgency about visiting coney island as land developers have purchased all the property where coney's boardwalk businesses operate. but more on that later. but first, a to-do list for coney island.

1) go eat some junk at nathan's.
fries, shrimp, corn dogs, lemonade - all good choices.



2) rides.
i am ashamed to say we felt too broke to do anything this time, but the cyclone is pretty amazing. last time we came to coney island, it was with jen and mike (without whom there was a noticeable hole in the experience this time). we all rode the cyclone together and, in a way, i didn't want to sully that experience.





3) poke around.
the is all sorts of weird crap to discover. this tine melissa helped us out with some tips - like the lady who dances for a quarter. shoot the freak was also pretty awesome, but mostly because of the barker's incredibly bored delivery of things like "yeah, shoot him in the head. freaks gotta die".





4) souvenirs.
we actually didn't delve too deeply in the souvenirs of coney island last time we were here, but there are some surprisingly interesting outlets of merch to be found. other than post cards, i don't normally go in for souvenir junk. i mean, there are some notable exceptions like the new york snow globe with a plastic bag instead of snow at the andy warhol museum. but most of the roadside schlock shops we have encountered all have the same stuff. but coney island is unique in the extent to which souvenirs fit it. this time, we discovered an interesting shop called lola staar - a boardwalk shop featuring all the touristy stuff you would expect (shirts, key chains, pins, post cards) but with the distinction of all being independently designed. i kind of fell in love with a lovely screen print there by michael micael motorcycle.oh, and we saw this on the wall:



...too bad aitor won't be around to compete.

we also discovered this interesting installation:

what an amazing project. see? how does this place manage to seamlessly integrate political installation art and the midway aesthetic? this is a very special place. it would a real shame to have it all turned to condos, too. liz who works at lola staar gave us some information on the potential rezoning/destruction of coney island. if you are interested in saving coney island, you can check out the information that has been put together here. if you are a new york resident, you can also feel free to write your mayor a letter.

back through new york.

today we took our time loading the car in the torrents of providence. the rains cleared up just in time for us to say our sad goodbyes to marya and push off towards brooklyn.

i felt very metropolitan, indeed, to have a late afternoon meeting with the lovely christina at etsy about their possible sponsorship involvement with city of craft. we do know that they will be involved in some way, which is very exciting. all other related news will have to wait until it is firmer. after the meeting, aitor and i hung around for a little bit. he drew and i soaked up the wireless signal to do some furtive business and check in on life in the ether.

our constant saviors dominica and marc took us in again. well, marc is away so dominica took us in. i also ate pasta made with beets at the restaurant where she works (amid the many places where she works).



after getting settled, we went on a big mission into manhattan to find our friend melissa. she told us she would be at a bingo night, which we had all but missed. we finally did find the place and her within it as the proceedings wrapping up. it's too bad we missed it, too. it looked like a lot of fun. and it's super cheap.





we managed to convince melissa to come out for a little drink with us after even though she has to get up early in the morning for these professional development classes she is taking on the new new math. i'm glad we coerced her, too, because in all our chatting we hatched a pretty good plan for our hallowe'en on the road. i won't say anything in case it doesn't materialize. but i sure hope it does...

electric connections and misdirections (in other words, providence).

today marya was kind enough to poke around this winding city with me, showing me some of her favorite places and looking for stores i might connect with. downtown was pretty difficult; it is sleepy and slow on sundays. so we went over to wickenden and thayer streets, which were much more alive. actually, wickenden was so alive that as we pulled onto it off the freeway we began to notice an increasing number of people sitting on patio furniture facing the road.

"what is this, a parade?"

"probably."

"then why isn't the street blocked off? why would they let us drive here?"

"welcome to providence."

so we found ourselves face to face with what must have been providence's version of a gay pride parade (which looked very queer, indeed) and diverted onto side streets packed lousy with inept drivers.





when we finally found a parking place a few blocks away, we got out and walked along the parade route to check it out. it was very quiet. we ended up walking into this store we had spotted right before being hit by the parade. it's called the curatorium and is new since my last visit through here almost two years ago. the sense of curation is pretty evident in their eclectic collection of stuff. we chatted with suzi, who works there, like school girls after we discovered that she is a video and performance artist with so many overlapping sensibilities as to make one mad with excitement. the owner was not around, but this is a place i really hope to forge a relationship if possible. you should go there.



after that, we went up thayer street where nothing much happened but i bought knee socks. i also think i saw my first knock-off buttons. i have decided not to name names or go into detail too deeply as i am always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt; it is possible that different people have the same idea a the same time (although in this case, improbable). also, the quality of said buttons was acutely non-threatening. it was actually kind of exciting (not that i am encouraging the world to steal my ideas - please don't) and i am surprised this is my first encounter with thought-theft yet in my three year business.



in the evening, aitor and i had the extreme pleasure of being invited over to deb and alec's place for a homemade dinner. deb is the genius and bookbinding clout behind if'n books and marks while alec is an illustrator, screen printer, sometimes-teacher, ink ape and owner of his own mint. needless to say, their home is a shrine to independent art and design with constant distractions in every nook and cranny. i could hardly hold a train of thought until we settle outside for dinner. deb also makes a breaded and baked tofu that even aitor wanted the recipe for (quite an impressive feat, deb - you clearly outdo me). deb and alec spent the day working on their collaborative project for a show called we = trouble that is being put on in brooklyn by tiny showcase. oh, to be all places at all time. i wish i could go. i also wish i could go to the opening party from craftland, the totally amazing and unique crafty event that deb is involved in running here. really, it's crazy what they do. i've applied for the first time this year. fingers crossed. maybe you should apply, too. you don't even have to be there.

good night providence. you've really spoiled us rotten this time.

short visits to a whaling town.

today we made a day trip to new bedford, massachusetts to set up shop in a small day fair organised by elissa who runs a shop called calico there. it was a very small event with only about six or seven vendors and music all day - some authentic teenage angst rock, some overaged teenage angst rock and some sort of white man rap. pretty charming all around.

although it was a relatively slow day, we enjoyed some recently rare sun, learned how you set up and take down our new canopy, and got some little projects done - packaging buttons for shana logic, organising our show suitcases. marya also scored some great used books on her explorations around the town (i envied both the explorations and the books).

also, we left some buttons with calico, so if you missed us today you can pick them up at the shop.

thank you, new bedford, for being small and nice and easy going and for not raining on us at all today.

whipple world.

this is what i've done to marya's home, or the beginnings of a full-on sweetie pie infestation, anyway.

oh, marya lives in a house that is part of a little community called whipple world. whipple world is located on whipple street and consists of a series of houses owned by a couple who hoard building supplies, put them to use on all these old houses, keep records, research things, aid wayward souls and do other useful stuff. the fences are all knocked out in the back yards and the space back there is shared. marya plants things. sometimes they have fire parties. according to her, there is also an old travelling carnie trailer full of typewriters somewhere and a printing press.

in the olden olden days, twenty eight armenian men lived in this small house and worked in the factory down the street. marya says their energies make it hard for her to sleep late because they all want to get up and go to work. i think she is just not as good at sleeping in as i am. i'm a pro!

today we all worked and worked. aitor got a last-minute illustration job and i have a thousand things to catch up on. for a treat, marya and i went for a little car trip around town. included on the trip was this bargain-basement fabric store housed in an old texile mill...



...where they don't screw around.



marya also introduced me to this amazing blog which i think i will now have to be mesmerized by for days. i retaliated by introduing her to the haunting wonders of chocolate rain, which she surprisingly had not yet encountered.

tomorrow we all head to new bedford, massachsettes, for the new bedford open market hosted in part by the lovely elissa who runs a great shop there called calico. full report forthcoming. but for now, some pins are screaming to be finished.

transmissions from the deep (or thinking a little of others for a moment).

photo by nancy o'mara

we are not in new mexico, where that picture up there was taken. it arrived in my email today from nancy who lives in santa fe. this is from a morning walk she took along route 66 on june 8th. perhaps others out there among you may want to imagine that you are there and then the way i want to. i am not in a bad place, mind you. aitor and i have arrived in providence where we were greeted with loving arms by my friend (and former roommate) marya errin jones. she also happens to have spent a good chunk of her adult life in new mexico. that is also where this long stretch of our journey began...just to tie things up in the neatest of bows. say, albuquerque and providence are rather far apart.

marya and i have a lot in common at this point in our lives; we are both recovering physical theatre performers turned crafters (who both still perform in spite of our ire and best intentions). so this gave way to much discussion about the multiple selves required by the industries of creative expression (as in "why would someone take me less seriously as a performer when they find out i crochet?") marya also keeps a crafty blog and channels a deceased druid monk. i guess i have yet to add 'psychic medium' to my list of skills, so therein some of our common ground ends. but really, i am busy enough as it is. i don't know how marya has the energy to do all she does and channel the dead. she crocheted all night while i made buttons and aitor drew. it was dreamy.

photo by tara bursey

i have also been meaning to mention tara bursey's portable library project, wherein she invites artists to create a week's worth of tiny, archival journals on-the-go. i am happy to say that not only will i be participating and making my own mini-library, but i will be doing so from the road (because why wouldn't i take on another project? and what could be more on-the-go?) i do believe that tara still has a few packages to distribute to willing artists and is still accepting expressions of interest. follow the links above if this sounds appealing. and don't be afraid if it seems daunting. tara is a very singular curator with a great mind for both the populist and the esoteric (and her own special place in between).

i would also like to remind all you friends and enemies out there about my open mail call. i didn't realize quite how much i would miss getting mail on my travels.

this rolling life.

if ohio passes by slow then pennsylvania passes by even slower. pennsylvania seems to be in the middle of everywhere one might want to go on this part of the map, too. i think they worked it that way so they can make toll coin off everyone possible. i am road weary and the sprawling vistas of the southwest are far behind us, so there is little to report. we did have the good fortune of being diverted off the freeway through wheeling, ohio, on our trip today. it's a small former mining town on the verge of the state line with pennsylvania with a pittsburghesque quality to its layout. i guess mining towns look like mining towns.

i thought i might use this opportunity to let you all in on some little secrets about our perpetual motion operation here. after being bought out of all my loose buttons in st. louis (thank you again), i have been wildly trying to make more buttons every night in our motel rooms along the way. i stay up making them until i pass out into a pile of button parts. aitor tucks me in and then stays up even later doing his work. in the morning we pry ourselves out of bed minutes before check-out (sometimes he needs to be lured with bad motel coffee and sometimes i need the covers pulls off of me and hidden). earl grey tea in hand (from tealish in toronto - i still have the dregs left from the stash i left with), i get behind the wheel and we start moving. after aitor gets his morning fix of caffeine and nicotine (and sometimes a wee nap), he steps up like a real prince and finish off my night-before's buttons. this is how many of the buttons you may own get their pins in them:





seriously, isn't he a gem?

in case you were wondering, he's working out of some pieces from a vinatge lazy susan that i got at a thrift shop in indianapolis. it will also be used in my display at craft shows. what can i say? studio space is at a premium in a 1987 pontiac 6000 station wagon.

corn fed travels and thinking of home.

we're in, like, ohio. i am sorry to say that in countless travels through this state, i have yet to be wowed by anything. please, please, show me how wrong i am. i should mention that i have yet to go to cincinnati. but we will in a few weeks.

anyway, since life is so bland and the roadside attractions so contrived (i'm not even going to dignify the roadside crap hole we fell into today with a mention), we took to photographing our arms.

driver:



passenger:



what have we learned? russian/british blood tans less easily than hispanic/basque blood and jewish ladies have hairy arms.

so let's move on to more illuminating subjects; city of craft 2008 applications are now live and online! all you have to do is send and email. no fee to apply! why not do it right now? it's easy. isn't that exciting? i'm excited.

and look at that amazing potser that shannon gerard made. isn't she amazing?

missouri loves company (or double-edged blessings in st. louis).

today we groggily got up and staggered out into the blistering muggy heat of the current midwest. at the generous suggestion of my mysterious friend shannah (she is mysterious because we have not yet met in real life), we travelled into a little university district on the edge of st. louis called the delmar loop.

really, it is hard to express how painfully hot today was. boris (the car) does not have air conditioning and today was the first day i actually felt sick from the heat.

shannah was right, though; the loop is a perfect neighbourhood for me to try to peddle my wares in. i had asked for suggestions after figuring out i had $70 left in my bank account - no matter how you slice it, that is not enough money with which to drive to rhode island. don't get me wrong; i like visiting stores and meeting independent business owners, but i am not so fond of doing so under duress. i am also not fond of having too little money to accomplish the actual things i have committed to. it stresses me out.

after hopping from store to store to loiter in various air conditionings (i am not usually such a fan), we stumbled upon a little shop called fifi's. it was closed with a sign on the door saying that the new ownership was working hard to reopen soon. behind the windows was busy work (you could tell because ladders were involved). then aitor spotted a 'we carry sublime stitching' sign in the window. it was like a hobo fencepost symbol for travelling neo-crafters. jenny hart, your logo is enough to make me knock for a business card. the shop looks great, by the way, and i wish dennis and emily the best in teir grand reopening. if you are in the area, you should check it out once they are running (very soon).

but our biggest surprise would come from a visit to rag-o-rama, a mostly clothing shop with other branches in indianapolis, columbus and atlanta. it's one of those places where you queue up at a buying table to see what old clothes they will buy. i usually don't deal with the bigger of these buy/sell operations (with notable exception from red light in seattle), but the staff there were really nice and supportive about my stuff so i waited the hour-and-change to have my turn with the buyers. the buyer, nate, poked through my stuff decided to take some of the loose buttons and then went to make a call to the owner for consultation.

"okay, we'll take them," he said when he got back.

"them? all of them?"

"yeah - it will take me a few minutes to count them all."

so there you go. gas money worries are behind me for a little while. but now i have a crud heap of buttons to make before we get to new bedford on saturday. a blessing with new obligations attached, but a much appreciated blessing nonetheless.

at least i left with enough money to hole up in terre haute, indiana, tonight to get some hunkering done.

oh, and as for shannah, we shall meet her for real in september when we come back through these parts for the strange folk festival. until then, she remains a benevolent ghost in the machine...with a great knack for the cosmic natures of mathematics.

good night, plains. rest well. and cool down!

ozrk vilge (or further travels down the road).

i wish i could photograph every amazing old falling apart sign i have seen on this trip, especially the ones along the more dilapidated stretches of old route 66. not only are they beautiful but i feel a sense of urgency in documenting them. sadly, time and the lack finances required to purchase more time make it impossible for me to add 15,000 stops to our trip. i get sad when i have to whizz past something amazing, though. this country is very big and very full of amazing.

the sign above is from some ozark-themed tourist crap shop in missouri somewhere. it was a few minutes after closing so they wouldn't take our money for cruddy postcards. the picture was free.

tonight we bed near st. louis.

thrift sore.

today, among other boring makings of things, we went to a bunch of thrift shops looking for frames that aitor can use for his illustrations. i also need a mirror so that people can see how awesome they look in my crocheted hats and neck warmers at fairs. we stumbled onto the massive print above and aitor got kind of kicky because we couldn't possibly take it with us. but look how amazing it is!

bag flags.

this is how i fold plastic bags to keep them organized on the road - we save the plastic bags we end up with and reuse them at craft fairs.

the idea for doing this folding came from a play i saw written by sonja mills. it was called flag and pile. i am not sure if this is the kind of bag folding mentioned in the play, but this is how i pictured it and it has been very handy while ambling. this should prove calming in case anyone reading this is contemplating the usefulness of live theatre or other art.

oh yes, we are currently hiding out in a cushy oklahoma city motel room, trying to get things done and staying away from the blistering heat outside.